I've turned it off for audio only projects where I need to synchronize audio tracks at the sample level. Otherwise, especially for video projects, I leave it on. And I've gotten 'stung' when I forget that it was off!

-Steve

"I've turned it off for audio only projects..."fwiw:



...Jerry

I once used to have "Show Unquantized event start" and "Show Unquantized event end" set to "TRUE" in the (int.) preferences. Thus draw a warning red line at Event edges which does not quantize to frames. There is no difference between audio and video events though. You either indicate any kind of events or none of them.

In addition to the hidden "internal" preference setting, which I too have set to true, and which immediately tells you that you're getting into trouble, I also have the old "Quantize to Frame" script which can correct the problems you've created. You still have to look at each even boundary, which can take quite a while on a long project, but it's still a lot faster than having to go back to an earlier version of the project and re-edit.

Wasn't there some change in how Vegas worked -- I think starting in Vegas 10, which I dont' use much -- where you could edit audio events at the sample level without turning off quantize?

@Jerry: thanks! I overlooked that check-box, which now explains why I was able to slip audio events in my video projects irrespective of the frames. I thought I had mistakenly unchecked QTF.

-Steve

Hi, Bob,
I found that there is an available toolbar button for QTF that can be added to the toolbar via menu Options|Customize Toolbar.

I added the button to my toolbar so I can visually check (and change) the setting at any time without having to open a menu.

Jerald

Thanks Jerald,
I shall definately add that toolbar button.


Now that I've got this project from hell out the door and had a sleep on it a more signifcant realisation has dawned on me, no pun intended.


Apart from the QTF trap I had an exceptionally hard time avoiding having Vegas 9e crash on me during this project and that is most unusual. In fact the only way to get some stability was to load the footage from the Z5 camera into a V8 project and then open the saved V8 project in V9.

Thing is V8 had QTF On and V9 didn't. The QTF setting is not stored in the project file, it is an application environment variable. To further compound the number of variables I'm very certain that the Z5 camera records HDV with a subtle difference to the HC5. Footage from the HC5 was not a problem, only footage from the Z5. The Z5 may have had "Fast Record" enabled. I say this because the way Vegas had split the clips during capture was different for the HC5 footage and the Z5 footage.
With unquantized Z5 footage on the T/L V9e would crash the very instant I tried to trim the tail of a clip but not the head. What I've learned from this exercise is that the precise type of footage might be a very significant determining variable between Vegas working without a problem and becoming crash central.

Bob.

What I've learned from this exercise is that the precise type of footage might be a very significant determining variable between Vegas working without a problem and becoming crash central.That's another interesting observation. I say "another" because yesterday someone tracked down an instability on their system to having the "close media files when not the active application" preference enabled (which is the default). By un-checking this, that person achieved better stability.

In both these cases -- if either of them actually are pointing to a problem, rather than just being some action that coincidentally happens to correspond with the problem going away -- it appears that the instability can be caused by the way in which Vegas is asked to read the media. In once case, it is asked to re-read media which may have been altered by another application, and in your case, it is asked to read media which may not line up with expected frame boundaries.

So, based on what I'm reading -- although I haven't been able to do any tests because my trial expired just as Sony released this new version that may finally work with my video hardware -- I would give the following advice to anyone who is experiencing crashing:

1. Uncheck the "close media .." check box.
2. Make sure QTF is enabled before you start your project.
3. Enable the hidden quantize display setting so events will display red edges if they are not quantized. Run the Quantize to Frames script to fix this problem before proceeding with further editing.
4. Do not capture HDV with scene detection enabled (this one I have seen myself: it totally screws up the boundaries).

Perhaps others can add more.

As a curious child I went to bed wondering where the sun goes when darkness blankets the earth.
All night I struggled to find the answer to the whereabouts of the sun.
Finally, it dawned on me!

Anyway I guess the lesson learned hear is more down to earth.
Leave QTF enabled, always and forever.

@amendgw

I leave that check box off on my audio projects for 1 important reason

It will let you edit to sub-frames BUT.....

If you move the clip to a new track, the starting edge of the clip is forced back on to the nearest frame, which often messes up sync

I would love if Sony corrected this behaviour, then I could just leave the option on

so I too have put the QTF button onto a toolbar so I can see it / toggle it on /off

+1 for the QTF toolbar button and "Show Unquantized event start" and "Show Unquantized event end" set to "TRUE" in the (int.) preferences. The discovery of that internal preference has been absolutely invaluable for me as I run some timelines with mixed 50i and 60i when I'm rendering for stock. I have that preference set in both 8c and 10e.

I thought this was a warning for "Beware of QuickTime Files" Who can't relate to that?